No More Baby Steps: Cambridge Universal Pre-K Launches After 30-Year Effort

After three decades of discussion, Cambridge’s universal preschool program is finally set to debut.

The Cambridge Preschool Program, which will provide free preschool programming for all Cambridge four-year-olds and some three-year-olds, closed the application form for its first cohort of students on Jan. 31.

The program anticipates enrolling 550-600 students, according to a Feb. 5 meeting between the School Committee and the City Council, and will cost the city $20 million per year.

Cambridge resident Kate L. McGovern, who enrolled her three-year-old daughter in CPP last month, expressed excitement about the program’s launch.

“It’s amazing,” she said. “I think it’s a huge win for families and for ensuring that kids in Cambridge can all start kindergarten with equal footing.”

According to Vice Mayor Marc C. McGovern, a former School Committee member, the city has been trying to implement a widespread publicly-funded preschool program for more than 30 years.

“Everybody was saying that we should do it, and it’s important. Well, then why the hell didn’t we?” said McGovern, who was first elected to the School Committee in 2003. “I’m happy we landed where we did. You know, it just took a little too long.”

Ayesha M. Wilson, Cambridge City Council and former School Committee member, said that “as a Black woman who went through Cambridge Public Schools,” she found data that showed racial disparities in third grade literacy “insulting.”

On the 2023 Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System test, a mere 36 percent of Black third-graders met or exceeded expectations on the English Language Arts component, 43 percentage points lower than their white counterparts.

“We can’t keep watching these inequities and being okay with that. Not in a resource-rich city like Cambridge,” Wilson said. “We really need to be in a position where we start putting our money where our mouth is.”

Both McGovern and Wilson said Office of Early Childhood Executive Director Lisa Grant, who joined the city in December 2020, was a key factor in making a universal preschool program a reality.

“Dr. Grant has been instrumental,” said Wilson, calling Grant’s field expertise, organization of the process, and ability to hire “the right people” as “spot-on.”

“I wish we hired her 15 years ago,” McGovern said.

In order to meet seat demand, Grant’s office has partnered with four distinct providers: Cambridge Public Schools, the Department of Human Service Programs, Head Start, and select private preschool and family childcare providers.

Grant said the “cornerstone” of her approach was the “one-stop-shop” information hub and application for all of the various programs contained in the CPP.

“Creating that single point of access was going to be critical in making sure that we didn’t have any gaps in our system,” Grant said.

She added that the staff has done some “direct hand holding” to help families understand the application and placement process, and has proactively reached out to “high-priority cases” — low-income families and families with children in foster-care, experiencing homelessness, or with special needs.

Still, the implementation of the program has not been without snags, with some parents alleging poor communication from CPP.

Karen Lostritto, a parent who enrolled her child in CPP, said parents were only told that programs operated by Cambridge Public Schools did not offer extended day options in the fall, which made it difficult for her to make an informed decision about where to apply.

Sophia W. Bender Koning, who also registered her child in CPP this year, said she “has not been able to get a straight answer from the city, from CPS, from anyone” about whether the placement process for public programs would honor sibling preferences.

Grant did not respond to a request for comment on criticism of the CPP program Tuesday.

Caitlin Malloy, the executive director of the Newtowne School, a private preschool program partnering with CPP, said it has been difficult to communicate clearly with the city about the number of seats she must reserve for three-year-olds who qualify for the program. Still, she said, it’s typical for pilot programs to face challenges.

“I believe in it. And I’m also finding it — at times — hard,” Malloy said. “But ultimately, I think it is the right thing to do.”

Marc McGovern and Wilson said they hope the preschool program will eventually expand to include even younger children.

“We know in terms of child development and brain development how much learning goes on in the first couple years of life,” McGovern said. “Let’s see how this goes and start talking about how we drop the age even lower.”

“I’m even hopeful that we can narrow the age down to two and get even more young people in sooner,” Wilson said.

—Staff writer Darcy G Lin can be reached at darcy.lin@thecrimson.com.

—Staff writer Emily T. Schwartz can be reached at emily.schwartz@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @EmilySchwartz37